Off The Rack #39

I wonder how many workers screw up daylight savings time and are an hour late today? I hate being late for anything. I’m so obsessively early that it’s annoying but I am reliable.

I cannot wait for it to get warm outside again. These cold snaps are getting to me more as I grow older. My mitochondria don’t seem to functioning as well to keep me warm. The physiological changes of aging suck. I just might have to start wearing long johns with the flap in the back.

Man-Thing #1 – R. L. Stine (writer) German Peralta (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). This new book certainly has a nostalgic feel to it as it harkens back to the horror comics of the 1980s. I was expecting the usual shtick of “whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch” but the swamp creature can talk now? I didn’t see that coming. Doctor Ted Sallis regained his consciousness and speech (when did that happen?) but not his human body so he tries to make it as an actor. Yes, it was a “what the?” moment. I like seeing new takes on old characters but this one didn’t work for me. There’s a nifty little back-up story by R. L. Stine (writer) Daniel Johnson (art) Mat Lopes (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters) that was more entertaining than the creature feature. Too bad they didn’t call this book Adventures Into Fear. That might have made us older fans less critical.

Detective Comics #952 – James Tynion IV (writer) Christian Duce & Fernando Blanco (art) Alex Sinclair, John Rauch & Allen Passalaqua (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). Part 2 of “League of Shadows” has Lady Shiva creating chaos in Gotham City and putting the Bat team down a few members. I don’t know if the new piece of personal info about Orphan was common knowledge but it sure shocked me.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys #1 – Anthony Del Col (writer) Werther Dell’Edera (art) Stefano Simeone (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). “The Big Lie” is a murder mystery worthy of these iconic teenage sleuths and mature readers, many who may have read their adventures when they were younger. I never did so I am seeing these characters with fresh eyes. I get the feeling that this is similar to how the Archie gang has been updated and I like what they’re doing over at Archie so I am sticking with this new version of Nancy, Frank and Joe.

Jessica Jones #6 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Michael Gaydos (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). One mystery solved, another to go. But first Jess has to square things with Luke. This was a very satisfying end to the first story arc.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #16 – Robert Venditti (writer) Rafa Sandoval (pencils) Jordi Tarragona (inks) Tomeu Morey (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). What a fantastic fight that Guy Gardner has. I had Marvin Hamlisch’s “The Entertainer” going in my head after reading Jessica Jones #6 because it reminded me of The Sting. Now I have the theme from Rocky stuck in my head. The art this issue was so very nice.

All-New Wolverine #18 – Tom Taylor (writer) Nik Virella (art) Michael Garland (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). So that problem’s solved. Laura figures out a way to get out from under Kimura’s thumb. I hear the Logan movie didn’t suck. I’m glad they introduced Laura/X-23 in that movie. I wish all the folks that went to see it would give this comic book a try. I’ve liked it since it started.

Lady Killer 2 #4 – Joelle Jones (writer & artist) Michelle Madsen (colours) Crank! (letters). Josie and her husband find themselves in tight spots at work and I’m sure the clamps will get tighter in next issue’s conclusion of this second story arc. There are a very few artists that write their own stuff that I really like and Joelle is one of them.

Old Man Logan #19 – Jeff Lemire (writer) Filipe Andrade (art) Jordan Boyd (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). This is Jeff’s last story on this book. I’m going to miss him. He has made Logan interesting again. Jeff is setting it up for Logan to go back to the Wastelands to maybe change the fate of the place that he came from. We’ll see if Logan actually makes it there next issue.

Spider-Man/Deadpool #15 – Joshua Corin (writer) Scott Koblish (art) Nick Filardi (colours) VC’s Joe Sabino (letters). I wasn’t going to read this issue because it’s part of the “‘Til Death Do Us…” crossover story where Deadpool fights with his demon wife Shiklah, but I’m glad I did. Josh threw in a few good pop culture references that made me smirk. Nothing laugh out loud funny but enough to make me have a good time reading. That’s all I ask from a comic book. This means that I will read issue #16 too and I might even pick up Deadpool and the Mercs for Money #9 and #10 to read the other parts.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #5 – Kieron Gillen (writer) Kev Walker (pencils) Marc Deering (inks) Antonio Fabela (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Aphra and her father find what they’re looking for and it’s her dad’s archaeological dream come true. That dream may turn out to be a nightmare though. It’s another exciting cliffhanger that makes you want to read the next issue as soon as it hits the racks on April 12.

Inhumans vs. X-Men #6 – Jeff Lemire & Charles Soule (writers) Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguilan (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters). That’s all they wrote folks. The threat to mutants by the Terrigen cloud is neutralized at last. Inhumans and X-Men don’t suffer any great losses. Some characters change and that’s what I expected from this great big war. Let’s not have another one for a while okay?

Kingpin #2 – Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Ben Torres (art) Jordan Boyd (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). This story is more about the writer that Wilson wants to hire than it is about the big Fisker. I love this version of the Kingpin though. Ben has modeled him after John Romita Sr. and Frank Miller’s massive, powerful interpretations. The last few pages made me decide to continue reading.